November 1st

That begins "National Novel Writing Month" and I plan to start my book set in Northern Ireland, then. The deal is -- you have to write 50,000 words within 30 days. I've been thinking...and avoiding...this story for so many years, I know the beginning and the end and bits of my lead character's, Brendan's, life in between, so I'm just going to jump in feet first and write in a stream-of-consciousness style then worry about it making sense afterwards. After all, the oldest and bestest saying about writing is -- "there's no such thing as writing, there's only rewriting." Or something to that effect.

My goal is to spend 3-4 years living in Ireland -- in Galway as opposed to Dublin -- to write this book and a screenplay set 3500 years ago (with the dialog all in Gaelic). $100K should be enough, after the exchange rate's taken into account. Anybody know anybody willing to get me the money, or got ideas on how to pull that kind of cash together?

New Direction

After getting lost in the nothingness of San Antonio, Texas -- I'm here due to family matters and will be at least until January 2010 -- I'm shifting the direction of this blog. I'll still post photos every now and then from my travels, but I'm now using this blog to showcase the screenplays and plays I've written and remind myself of what I'm capable of.

Overall, I've completed 27 screenplays, sold 2, optioned 4, done 8 works for hire, and written, produced and directed several industrial and training videos. I've also written plays and viral videos, and am a published author of erotica. You can check out my profile at -- http://www.linkedin.com/in/kylemichelsullivan -- for a better idea of what I've done.

Now, I've won awards for my unproduced scripts from various competitions.

"The Cowboy King Of Texas" -- a romantic-comedy-western -- won Best Screenplay at the Houston International Film Festival.

"Straight On Till Morning" -- a bio-pic about the life of Beryl Markham that I did as a work for hire -- won the following year for Best Dramatic Adaptation from HIFF.

"Darian's Point" -- a gothic-horror script set in 1910 Ireland -- won Best Horror/Thriller Script from Worldfest Charleston.

"Return to Darian's Point" -- the sequel to "Darian's Point" and set in modern day Ireland -- is currently a Finalist in The Shriekfest Film Festival Screenplay Competition and a Quarterfinalist in the Writers On The Storm Screenplay Competition (I still hope to win both).

"Blood Angel" -- an erotic-horror-romance about a vampire and the young man she wants to seduce, which is set in Post-Katrina New Orleans -- placed Second in The Movie Deal!; Third in The Indie Gathering; was a Finalist in the Pacific Northwest Writer's Association Competition; a semi-finalist in The Austin Film Festival's Screenplay Competition, The Screenwriting Expo, The Cinestory Screenwriting Competition and the Blazing Quill Screenplay Competition; and was a Quarterfinalist in Scriptapalooza, Slamdance and Page International -- all in one year.

"Find Ray Tarkovsky" -- an action-comedy about an actor trying to find a killer in the witness protection program -- was a Semifinalist in Scriptapalooza, American Accolades, Screenwriter Dig and Write Movies.

"Wide New World" -- a drama set in modern Dublin -- came in Second at The Indie Gathering, Third at Worldfest Houston and was a Semifinalist in The Big Picture, all under its original title of "Still Life."

For more information or to read an excerpt of one of the scripts, go to -- http://www.moviebytes.com/ws/wsListScripts.cfm -- for links to them.

I'm still writing and just completed two volumes of a novel titled "Bobby Carapisi" that's being considered for publication. If it makes it, I'll post about that here.

Next up is probably a novel set in Ireland...but more on that later.

A blogger blogs constantly -- some say every day. I haven't been doing that, obviously. A lot of it due to family nonsense. But after the first of the year, that will change. I'm resettled and ready to share my work, again -- trips to Ireland, Scotland, England, Germany, Seattle, Boise and, during the first two weeks of January 2009, Detroit...which will be interesting, since I've never had to drive in snow, before. I'll probably be going 5 miles an hour.

Anyway, this post is just to verify I'm still here and planning to continue with my work...even if nobody's watching.

JTC

Inish Oirr

There is only one visit of the ferry, per day, it seems,
so I had to look the island over within the space of
three hours. I began with a romantic-looking cemetery
near an airfield.

You can see the northern leg of Cliffs of Moher
in the distance.

That's where I found St. Cavan's. It was a full-fledged
church for hundreds of years, but now the sand keeps
filling it in, over the winter...and every year the locals
clear it out for a summer festival.




Then I went walking down a twisting trail, just to see
where it lead me. I passed all these "small-holding"
farms and pastures, each marked off with fences built
of rocks laid atop each other and no mortar to seal them.


At the trail's end, I found another view of the Moher
Cliffs -- their southern leg. A tiny lighthouse seemed
to watch them with as much wonder as I did.

The Burren

I rented a car intending to drive to a place near
Ennis that had a rebuilt "crannog," an artificial island
that served as a protected dwelling for the Celts. But
the opening had been postponed till after I was slated
to return to the US, so I drove around the Burren,
instead, and somehow found my way to this 5000
year old burial monument called Poulnabrone Dolem,
in the middle of nowhere.

It's off a narrow road with no signs to speak of
and no place to park except on the shoulder. I
actually drove past it and only stopped when I
noticed it in my rear-view mirror.

I then drove through The Burren...


...and back to Galway, where I spent the night.


The next morning, I caught a ferry to Inish Oirr,
the smallest of the Aran Islands.

The crossing was light and easy. This photo is
taken from the island. In the distance, you can
see the Cliffs of Moher.

Dublin

I took the train from Derry to Dublin, which was delayed for an hour in Belfast due to a bomb threat, found a nice B&B near St. Stephen's Green and wandered in a city bright and alive.

The River Liffey near dusk.


The Ha'penny Bridge


A monastery near the most important stop in
the city --


-- The Guinness Brewery.

Which was gutted and made into an atrium-style
museum that chronicles not only the making of
the ale but also the history of Dublin.

More to come...

Grianan an Aileach

I took a bus from Derry to just across the border
with the Republic. The border is fairly open, now,
not controlled as tightly as in previous years. My
plan was simple -- to visit a circle fort called Grianan
an Aileach; my reason more complex -- to get out of
Derry for a little while and let the emotional turmoil
subside...along with my hangover.

By the bus stop was this church, designed by Liam
McCormack -- elegant and surprising in its simplicity.

From here I walked up a semi-winding road to the
fort. The woman who ran my B&B said it was only
about 2-300 feet up. She meant 2-300 meters.
Not helpful to my physical well-being, right then.

And this is Grianan an Aileach -- a circle fort some
2500-5000 years old, depending on whose estimate
you're using. It was the seat of the O'Neill clan till
about the 11th Century. And I was able to just walk
in and wander about...and savor the history of it.

From atop the walls, there's a breathtaking view
of the plain and Lough Foyle, the mouth of the
River Foyle, Lough Swilly and the Inishowen coast.

(I snatched this photo from Wikipedia.com
because I'd stupidly forgotten to bring more
film and had run out.)

I stood here for hours and wrote. Missed the last bus back to Derry, deliberately. So I returned by walking down a narrow side road that lead into the back of the Bogside.

It was during this 6 mile journey I found the path to a story I'd been circling around, and promptly moved away from it because of the demands it made upon me.

It was early April, and the fields were dancing with lambs so freshly alive, many still had their umbilical cords dangling from their bellies. Ewes hustled about to make certain I wasn't after their little ones -- tiny fluffy things that couldn't decide if they were scared of me or curious about this two-legged creature passing by. There was no traffic and the breeze was cool. It threatened to rain, for a moment, but then the sun joined me on the rest of my walk...as did the lead character of my story. My book. My novel, to be exact.

He told me of himself. Showed me I'd been aiming for bald simplicity instead of truth. Lead me to understand what the story was about. I already knew it was to be set in the years between 1996 and 1981, in Derry, in the Bogside, following him, a young Catholic boy, through the time...but he let me know it must also be told in the first person by him.

Not being Catholic or ever having even been to this part of the world until just then, the idea terrified me. Still does. And while I've worked in fits and starts on the story since, I'm still skittish of it. Nervous about taking the plunge.

Until now. Reasons for that to come.

After The Cliffs of Moher

I took a bus to Derry (aka -- Londonderry) and it was overwhelming. I stayed two blocks from the Derry walls went to wander around them soon as I checked into my B&B.


Near the gun turrets overlooking this part of the city (called The Bog), I was approached by a paratrooper to ask why I was taking so many photographs. Soon as he heard me speak, he said, "Oh, a Yank. S'all right, then." And he left. And that's when the whole feeling of the place and its horrible history of death and hate crashed in on me...and I went and got drunk, and spent the next day six miles north -- in the Republic of Ireland.

After Galway...

I spent two days in Doolin, at the northern beginning of the Cliffs of Moher...and walked to the cliffs. Eight kilometers but totally worth the casual journey there and back (even though my legs disagreed).

From the point where those two people are lying straight down is 700 feet.

Irish Trip

I spent three weeks in Ireland, Scotland and England, a couple years back. First stop was Galway, where I've set two screenplays I wrote. The church is St. Columba's Cathedral; the other two shots are the town.